Page 56 of The Sun
He smiled. “Quick answer.” Then he glanced at the watch I never saw him take off. He wore it at school, at ball practice, during games, and evidently when he slept. “It’s barely six in the morning.”
“And?”
“Something happened,” he said.
I was running on no sleep, and with each passing second, I felt guiltier about just leaving Elias. Honestly, the more I thought about, I worried I looked a little like a whore. Trying to fish his dick out, then dry humping him and leaving. God, I was turning into Daisy.
Brandon patted the spot on the couch beside him, and I begrudgingly took a seat. “Spill.”
I frowned at him. “I mean, I like you, and we’re definitely friends, but do you move this fast with everyone?”
He laughed.
“I’m serious. I feel like we’ve gone from casually hanging out a few times to picking scabs and becoming blood brothers”—I snapped my fingers—“like that?”
“All right. I can’t force you to divulge information.”
I stared off at the Dale Earnhardt commemorative plate in a display case. Thomas was still grumbling about someone screwing in his bed.
I needed to get Daisy before our parents figured out we weren’t where we said we’d be. “Do you know where Daisy is?”
Brandon pointed toward the stairs. “My guess. She’s in Thomas’ room with Ben.”
Tossing my head back, I groaned. Poor life choices all around.
Something tumbled down the steps before a thud dragged my attention away from Brandon. Daisy’s heels landed haphazardly at the bottom of the stairs before she shuffled down, holding to the rail for dear life. Her gaze went from me to Brandon whose arm was still draped around me. “You two are cute,” she said, pleased.
Brandon squeezed me a little. “We are, aren’t we?”
Ben strutted into the hall, flipping a bird—I guessed at Thomas—before he slid down the banister. He gripped Daisy’s waist and tugged her in for an aggressive, sloppy kiss, and then smacked her on the butt. “Call you later, Dais.”
“Hey, dipshit!” Brandon called. “You gotta help us clean this mess.”
“Man. Thomas has got it.” Ben gave a dismissive wave. Seconds later, the door banged shut behind him.
“God, he’s a dick,” Brandon mumbled.
“He’s gotta go to some lunch thing for his dad,” Daisy said, starry-eyed. “Isn’t that great? He’s all close with his family and stuff.”
“Uh, yeah.” Brandon scrunched his face in a weird smirk while bobbing his head. “Sure, he is.”
“We’ll help.” I went to the kitchen, grabbed a trash bag from the pantry, and waved it up and down to open it.
“You don’t have to do that.” Brandon knelt on the floor and shoveled cans into the bag.
“Yeah, Sunny. Youreallydon’t.”
I scowled at Daisy, and she tossed up her hands, shaking her head. “Fine. You’re too nice. You realize that, right?”
Too good for Elias. Too nice in general.
We pickedup Krispy Kreme donuts on the way to Daisy’s. Since the shop was less than a mile away from her house, it stood to reason that an early morning donut run would stave off any questions about why we had decided to come over to her house so early.
We polished off half a dozen and then disappeared to her room.
“Ben’s not as bad as you think, Sunny.”
I looked up from theCosmoarticle on skin care, and my lips shrank into my mouth. “Mm-hmm. Sure thing,Dais.”
